


The Grand Design

by Kelseyalicia



Series: One-shots for friends [25]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Parents, Broken Heart, Children, Creation, Daughters, F/M, Family, First Love, Friendship, Gift Fic, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Matter of Life and Death, One Shot Collection, Origin Story, Parents, Partner Betrayal, Singing, Sons, Spirit World, Voice Acting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 08:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25467508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelseyalicia/pseuds/Kelseyalicia
Summary: The tale of Raava and Vaatu is well known. But what of their children? Alanna and Anto? What their story, and how did they end up being the White Spirit of Life and the Black Spirit of Death?
Relationships: raava and original character Vaatu and original character original character and original character
Series: One-shots for friends [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1777261
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Grand Design

**Author's Note:**

> This is my 25th one-shot on my list of one-shots to do. This story is to tell the origin story of Raava's daughter Alanna and Vaatu's son Anto. To read about the Alanna the White Spirit of Life and Anto the Black Spirit of Death, please read my story New Faces and Old Places. Enjoy the story, and please read and review this and my other stories. Thank you.
> 
> Amarthrien drew this picture!

To the mortal race of humans, they only knew of the beginning of time when it came to creation. They didn't know anything about the time before time began. Before time began, there was Nothing. Nothing had no celestial bodies, none of the elements in any of their forms. There wasn't even gravitational force, purely nothing.

Then one day, time began. No one, not even the spirits, knew how time and creation began. But they're at least old enough to remember what happened.

A beautiful voice began to sing a song. The first song ever is sung. The singer and lyrics to their song have long since been forgotten. But the song held the most potent magic ever born.

One moment there nothing; next instant, a burst of thousands of light. Out of the lights emerged heavenly bodies, and following them came the elements.

Little by little, the musical composition wove the tapestry of creation. Colors, sounds, and smells came next. Subsequently, rose mountains, rivers, forests, and grassland.

The spirits born from the very heart and soul of the Song of Creation with the final note, the Song ceased, and thus, time began.

All the spirits concentrated around an extraordinary tree at the heart of the brand-new world. The tree itself was the softest shade of lilac. The leaves' color couldn't be named the blossoms, a cross between lilies and orchids.

All the spirits knew this was the Tree of Life held all of creation in its branches. They just knew the tree was holy, and they must never tamper with it, or things would return to the time before time began.

A century passed before the spirits were capable of bearing their children. Unlike the human race, they could only form offspring when their life energy reached its zenith. Ordinarily, it took two partners to create a progeny. Only two spirits were powerful enough to form their progeny without a partner.

Raava the Spirit of Light and her mortal enemy Vaatu the Spirit of Darkness each bore a child. Raava bore a daughter of great beauty and purity. She named her Alanna, for it meant precious child.

Vaatu christened his son Anto who only could be called a demon. He chose the name Anto for it meant priceless.

Now, when Time began, there was woven into the very fiber of all living beings' forbidden laws. There were several laws when it came to children. Ranging from the unborn are untouchable to that children aren't to be harmed in any way until they reach the age of maturity.

That meant for Raava and Vaatu they'd to call armistice for the next century. So they could raise their children without breaking the laws. For a spirit to reach what is consider adulthood is their 100th birthday.

The Tree of Life created for them a home to raise their children in peace. Limbo Valley. Raava and her daughter Alanna lived where all light touched the Valley.

Their home Keaparaberu sat on top of a green hill with a high marble wall. Inside were trees with leaves of light-green, cornflower blue, and shimmering silver. Further ahead were high gates of gold, which were fasten shut and facing the east.

It was a private sanctuary of beauty and peace with a marble fountain and silver apple trees that gave off the loveliest smells. Flying around the palace grounds were birds slightly larger than eagles with saffron breasts, scarlet crest, and royal purple tails.

The palace itself had an ivory roof and long halls with peacock feathers hanging on the walls. The eastern door faced an impossible contained sea. Keaparaberu indeed a place of light, love, beauty, and life.

On the other side of the Valley was Vaatu and Anto's home, a pitch-black wasteland with a decaying castle called Zan. Darkness, hate, ugliness, and death thrived here.

Dividing the Valley in half was the River Sutikusu. In the heart of the Valley was the Temple of the Magic before the Dawn of Time. Both locations were consecrated and non-engagement. So began the 100-year truce between Raava and Vaatu.

Raava's daughter, Alanna, closely resembled a human save for her glittering pink butterfly wings. Her hair was whiter then the fresh snow with eyes as blue as the sky, and her skin was gleaming alabaster. It was as if she was a living symbol of purity, grace, and tranquility.

Right now inside Keaparaberu, Raava had shape-shifted. All spirits could change their form into anything they chose. Raava had transformed herself into a humanoid noblewoman. Her coloring remained the same, but she didn't look quite human with her bluish-white coloring.

Raava's human form, though, was quite ravishing. Regal and tall dressed in an aquamarine silk gown, which rippled like gentle currents in a river. Her cyan hair is styled in braids and rolls with eye-catching sparkling aquamarines, turquoise, and kyanite.

Gently, she lifted her daughter out of her crib and began to sing her a lullaby.

"I pray you'll be under my gaze,  
And watch you where you go,  
And help you to be wise.  
Help me to let go,  
Every Mother's prayer,  
Every child knows.

Lead us to that place,  
Guide us with your grace,  
To that place where we'll be safe.

I pray we'll find the light,  
And hold it in our hearts.  
As darkness falls each night,  
Remind them I am here.

Every Mother's prayer,  
Every child knows.

Need to find that place,  
Guide us to that place,

Give us faith, so we'll be safe.

Lead us to that place,  
Guide us with your grace,  
To the place where we'll be safe."

She gently kissed her daughter's forehead. "May you only know light, my darling. May my love for you be your guiding light," as her daughter wrapped her little finger around her Mother's.

In Zan, Vaatu was nowhere near as affectionate to his son as Raava was to her daughter. Vaatu's human form more resembled an oni then anything else. He didn't talk fondly or give his child kisses.

Instead, Vaatu's parenting style was molding the child into what he wanted him to be. Anto's nursery had no light or sound as if Nothing had changed.

If Anto cried or need his father, Vaatu wouldn't come to his aid. He spoke to his son as if he was an adult, not a child. Even when his son began to learn to walk or talk, his father always spoke harshly. Never did he say he was proud or give his son any sort of tenderness.

Alanna got lots of love and encouragement. Her Mother showered her with love and affection. She let her daughter fall so she could learn to pick herself up. She gave her the freedom to determine her destiny. Alanna grew up tending the gardens and enjoying all of nature.

As she got older, her powers started to emerge. She could create life, purify that which was tainted, and heal what had been hurt. From her mother, she learned to be a proper lady who was charitable, merciful, emphatic, and lastly, altruistic.

Alanna couldn't help, however, but feel pity for Anto on the other side of the river. Though they didn't interact, she still could feel his agony. Sometimes she even dreamt about it.

Seeing him raised isolation. Not given toys to play with but rather complicated puzzles to sharpen his mind with. Taught to see love as a weakness and that hatred was the way to survive.

"There must be a way I can help him! I have to do something!" Alanna thought to herself.

She didn't know how she would help Anto, and she was sure her mother would forbid her to help. But just because her Mother and Anto's father were enemies, that didn't mean their children should be mortal enemies too. They can't blame the child for the sins of the parents. Also, no one should ever be abused. It didn't matter Vaatu was the Spirit of Darkness. Child abuse was child abuse.

That made Alanna even more determined to help Anto not walk the path his father expected of him. She just needed a chance. She got her first chance when she was twenty-five-years-old, which made her the human equivalent of five-years-old. For spirits, they aged every twenty-five years. So, by the time she was fifty, she'd be ten, then seventy-five she'd be fifteen, and when she's hundred, she'd be twenty and adult.

They'd just finished her music lesson. Alanna loved to make up songs and sing them. Raava strongly felt her daughter's talent for singing would come in handy when she embraced her destiny.

Today's song Alanna called her cleansing song. As her powers of purifying seem to become their strongest when she sang this song.

"Oh, my power

Oh, how you worry,  
Oh, how you're weary, from your fear you lost the fight.

This is the one thing you didn't see coming,  
And though no one would blame you,  
If you cried in private,  
If you tried to hide it away, so no one sees it,  
No one will see if you stop believing.

Oh, my power,  
you are not alone.  
There's a time where pain has to face the Spirits, you know.  
But I will show YOU the way to one more day.  
Let me show you how you can lay this down,  
Because your not alone.

Here and now,  
you can be honest.  
I will promise everything will work out,  
because this is the way, life is.

Now, your breath is whistling through your dry bones,  
And there will be dancing.  
There will be beauty where was fire and ash.  
This much I know.

I'm not strong enough. I can't take anymore seeing darkness.  
You can lay it down. You can lay it down.  
My body can't contain any more of your pain.  
You can lay it down. You can lay it down.

Will He find me here?  
Can I keep myself from going under?

Oh, my power,  
Your not alone."

"Magnificent, Alanna. I'm very impressed. Now it's nap time," her mother informed her daughter.

"But, Mommy, I'm not tired! I want to go exploring! I want to leave the palace grounds and see the rest of the Valley!"

"Alanna! I told you why you're not allowed to leave the grounds. While Vaatu and I have sworn truth, I know that devil all too well. He won't care about the taboo rules.

He'll find a way to hurt you to hurt me. Damn the consequences to him. Trust me, my darling. You're safer in the palace. Now please, it's time for your nap."

Alanna didn't understand her Mother's concern. But let her Mother take her to her room for a nap. After her Mother sang her lullaby to her baby, she transformed back into her true self to check on things outside the palace.

Alanna couldn't sleep, though. So once she was sure her mother was gone, she slipped out of bed. Then opening her window, she gazed at the Valley below her.

Smiling, she transformed, for the first time successfully a swan with a long luxurious tail and abundant plumage on her head. She took the to air singing dreamily as heliotrope-colored butterflies fluttered around her.

Finally, free of her confinements, Alanna took in the sights of the Valley. A forest of cherry blossom trees, fields carpeted by sunflowers, lilies, chrysanthemums, and peonies. A shimmering lake and further ahead was the Temple that sat in the heart of the Valley over the river.

Landing, she transformed back into her true form. Her snow-white hair piled up intricately with two lacquered combs. Her cloud-white silk kimono embroidered with fanciful birds.

Entering the Temple for the first time, she saw a fantastic stone table. The table looked like a giant Pai Sho board. It was a game the spirits invented to pass the time. One day humans would claim it as their own. But again, humans had yet to be born.

Instead of the sixty tiles that humans would one day play with, all Alanna saw were the butterflies from her flutter. Alanna knew the butterflies were an extension of her powers, and with each good deed, the flutter grew.

As she gazed at the board, she received a shock when blood-red moths materialized out of nowhere. Her butterflies went into a frenzy, trying to get rid of the intruders when Alanna eventually calm them down.

"It's okay! It's okay, my beauties! Calm down!" she cried before she let out a small shriek. Someone else had just entered the Temple. A curious-looking male child her age.

It was the first time she saw Anto in person and not just dreaming about him. Seeing him in person was much different then seeing him in a dream where things became distorted.

Anto was much taller then his given age with a very lean build. While Alanna had alabaster skin and snow-white hair, his skin was bone-white and his hair black as night. He didn't resemble a human as she did. Not with his pointy ears, cat-like eyes, talons instead of fingernails. His hairstyle was a traditional queue, and he dressed only in black.

She bowed respectfully, "I'm honored to meet your acquaintance. I'm Alanna, daughter of Raava. Nice to meet you finally, Anto, son of Vaatu."

Anto stared at her in confusion before he spoke. His voice was raspy and sounded more like an animal then human-like. "What are you doing, you silly girl?"

She looked up in surprise, not just by the sound of his voice but by the words he chose to use. "I'm using proper etiquette. Mother's taught me its important in life to have manners."

"Hmph," Anto smirked as he flicked his queue behind him, "Father says manners are for fools. Only fools care about other feelings or something as lame as manners.

The strongest do not need such childish nonsense. Superior beings such as myself can say and do as I please. Everyone is beneath me, and they need to be treated as the ants they are."

She was startled at his proclamation. How much had his father twisted his mind already? Shaking her head, she stood her ground. "Anto, I don't know why your father would tell you such lies.

But you'll get much farther in life being kind, respectful, and keeping your word to others. If you are kind to others, then they'll be helpful to you as well. Don't you want a friend?"

"Friend? Why would I need a friend? People are born alone and will remain alone. All anyone can count on is empties. Trust and kindness are only for fools. And you seem like your a big fool."

"You do realize you're rude, don't you? Has anyone ever treated you with kindness or compassion? Have you ever felt the warmth of someone's love before?"

"LOVE? Why would I care about such a weakling emotion as that?"

"Anto, I'm trying to help you. I want to be your friend. I'd like to show you can be more then you believe yourself to be. Please let me help you."

"I don't need your help, Alanna."

"Can you at least give it a try? Like can we meet here once a week? Just to play Pai Sho and talk? Is that too much for you to do?"

He seemed to consider it and nodded, "Fine same time next week. I'll play your little game." with that, he transformed into a raven the size of a griffin and took off with his moths following him.

Over the next fifty years, the two spirits met to play Pai Sho. As they played the game with their butterflies and moths, they talked. They talked about the weather, how their powers were developing, what was going on outside the Valley.

They talked about Alanna's music lessons, Anto's combat training, trading their different philosophies. Their day-to-day struggles. By the time their teenager's things had started to change.

Anto, by now as kinder, thoughtful, and seemed to enjoy Alanna's company. She was enjoying his company and companionship. It looked like love was in bloom. They shared their first kiss when they're sixteen.

It seemed they'd overcome their parents' influence, and they'd be friends and lovers for all time. But sadly, it wasn't meant to be. What happened to them was a betrayal, so evil all their childhood memories would become meaningless.

Alanna, as she approached the age of maturity, had been working on a surprise. For years she has been dreaming of using her powers to create more friends and have a lasting legacy.

Therefore,

She spent most of her life working to create a whole new being into existence. A reflection of herself and her Mother's other form. One day she finally was able to do it.

Alanna became the Mother of the Human Race. Through her magic and love, she created the humans who would one day make up the four nations. She accomplished this by writing a song and sang them into existence.

"All the colors in the Four Nations,  
All the voices fill the Air Temples.  
Every spirit that reaches out,  
That reaches out to find where love begins.  
Every word of every story,  
Every star in every sky,  
Every corner of the Realms lives to testify.

For as long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love.  
I'll be the light in the darkness,  
when your fight goes out.  
With every breath I take,  
I will give thanks to the Spirits beyond.  
For as long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love.

From the Earth Kingdom to the Air Temples,  
From the Water Tribes to the Fire Nation,  
Every heart that reaches out,  
Every heart that reaches out to offer peace.  
Every simple act of kindness,  
Every step to one of the Nations,  
All the hope, in every heart,  
I will speak of what love has done.

As long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love.  
I'll be the light in the darkness,  
when your fight goes out.  
With every breath I take,  
I will give thanks to the Spirits beyond.  
As long as I shall live, I will vow to love  
I will vow to love.  
(For as long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love.)  
I'll be the light in the darkness  
when your fight goes out.  
With every breath I take,  
I will give thanks to the Spirits beyond.  
As long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love.

As long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love.  
I'll be the light in the darkness,  
when your fight goes out.  
With every breath I take,  
I will give thanks to the Spirits beyond.  
As long as I shall live, I will vow to love...  
I will vow to love.  
(For as long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love.)  
I'll be the light in the darkness  
when your fight goes out.  
With every breath I take,  
I will give thanks to the Spirits beyond.  
As long as I shall live,  
I will vow to love."

Her two very first humans were named Adamu and Ibu. They're her favorite among her many children. Adamu's physical resembled both those of the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads. His wife, Ibu, resembled a person of both the Water Tribe and Fire Nation.

At first, it seemed everything was alright between the children she created. She knew her purpose then was to be the guiding light to her children. To help them be the best they could be to fill the world with life, love, and joy.

Then came the ultimate betrayal. Alanna understood that Anto's powers gave him control over death. She accepted that all living things had to die. But what he did was unforgivable. Anto used his silver tongue on Adamu to turn him from his wife. He was sowing the seeds of dishonesty, wickedness, and sins. But that wasn't the worst to bring out the worst of her children.

No, what he did was directly cause the deaths of her firstborn children and their children. He convinced Adamu to murder his wife and two small children. Alanna was heartbroken at his betrayal. All her years of friendship with him and even giving him his only kiss, and he broke her heart by causing humans to commit murder.

On that day, whatever bond they'd created was forever shattered as she realized he'd never change and only would bring about the end of the world that he'd continue to encourage her children to hate and stir up strife and heartbreak.

Alanna know knew her mission was to watch over the souls of her children. To tried and lead them down the right path. And battle with her mortal enemy.

Thus began the White Spirit's dance and the Black Spirit as the Spirits of Light and Darkness resumed their dancing. And therefore, this dance will go on for the rest of the time.

Alanna the White Spirit of Life- Avocadolove author of the hit avatar story "Another Brother."

Anto the Black Spirit of Death-Keith Silverstein- Hawkmoth- Ladybug

Songs tweaked by Japananimegirl.


End file.
